Environmental air sanitizer

ABSTRACT

AN APPARATUS FOR SELECTIVELY TREATING ENVIRONMENTAL AIR AS IT IS CIRCULATED OVER A PATH INCLUDING AN ELONGATE ENCLOSURE IN WHICH ARE DISPOSED FACILITIES EFFECTIVE FOR WITHDRAWING AIR FROM A ROOM THROUGH A MECHANICAL FILTER, DIVIDING THE AIR TAKEN IN INTO TWO DISCRETE PATHS, CHEMICALLY TREATING THE AIR IN ONE PATH BY ADDING A VAPOR PHASE ADDITIVE, OPTICALLY TREATING THE AIR IN THE OTHER PATH FIRST WITH GERMICIDAL ULTRAVIOLET RADIATION FOLLOWED BY OZONIZING ULTRAVIOLET RADIATION, TURBULENTLY MIXING THE GERMI-   CIDALLY IRRADIATED AIR WITH THE OZONIZED AIR, AND FINALLY BLENDING THE ADDITIVE TREATED AIR WITH THE OPTICALLY TREATED AIR AND RETURNING THE BLENDED AIR TO THE ROOM.

April 27, 1971 Filed A ril 28, 1969 D. J. CICIRELLO ENVIRONMENTAL AIRSANITIZER 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 OFF HI FIG. 3

INVENTOR. Dame\ 3. Cncarello April 27, 1971 D J, ||RELLO I 3,576,593

I ENVIRONMENTAL AIR smmzmz I Filed April 28, 1969 v 2 Sheets-Sheet 2INVENTOR. Danld 3 CICU'QH-O 3,576,593 ENVIRONMENTAL AIR SANITIZER DanielJ. Cicirello, 6406 Tracy St., Little Rock, Ark. 72206 Filed Apr. 28,1969, Ser. No. 819,905 Int. Cl. A611 9/00, 9/04 U.S. CI. 21-53 9 ClaimsABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE An apparatus for selectively treatingenvironmental air as it is circulated over a path including an elongateenclosure in which are disposed facilities effective for withdrawing airfrom a room through a mechanical filter, dividing the air taken in intotwo discrete paths, chemically treating the air in one path by adding avapor phase additive, optically treating the air in the other path firstwith germicidal ultraviolet radiation followed by ozonizing ultravioletradiation, turbulently mixing the germicidally irradiated air with theozonized air, and finally blending the additive treated air with theoptically treated air and returning the blended air to the room.

PRIOR ART Air treating apparatus utilizing ultraviolet radiation andchemical treatment of a moving column of air for destroying viablemicroorganisms in the air, to which this invention relates, have beenthe subjects of a large number of prior art disclosures. Despite thissituation, there appears to be no suggestion of any structure capable ofthe multiple selectively available treatments made possible by theinvention herein, or any concept of the treatment sequence provided.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION An important but seldom mentionedconsideration con cerning any air treatment apparatus which contemplatesa chemical or vapor phase additive treatment superimposed upon anultraviolet radiation treatment is the ability to adjust the intensityof the respective treatments and thereby conform the treatment to therequirements as they may vary from time to time.

It is an object of the present invention to provide an apparatusenabling the application at variably adjustable rates of a plurality oftreatments to the air in the room with the apparatus; such treatmentsmay include, as desired, simple mechanical filtering, insecticidal,germicidal, ozonizing, ionizing or deodorant, and may comprehendchemical or ultraviolet optical, or any one of several combinations ofeach.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is an elevational view of theapparatus, shown with the door removed and partly in section;

FIG. 2 is a side elevation, shown with a side wall removed and partly insection;

FIG. 3 is a front elevation, showing the manually operable controls;

FIG. 4 is an isometric view of the blower module, showing particularlythe bottom supporting and connecting rails;

FIG. 5 is a similar view, showing the air inlet and outlet along withthe top of the module; and

FIG. 6 is a wiring diagram showing the control connections.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring in more detail toFIGS. 1, 2 and 3 of the drawings, an upstanding rectangular enclosure orhous- United States Patent O "ice ing 10, formed from a metal sheethaving a substantial reflectance of ultraviolet energy at a wavelengthof about 2500 angstroms, e.g. brightened aluminum, is provided with arear door closure 11, which is swingable between an open and a closedposition about its pivotal mounting 14 at the lower end of the housing,and which is effective to prevent escape of ultraviolet energy from thehousing when in the closed position illustrated in FIG. 3.

A group of upwardly directed louvers 13 provide an outlet for air movingupwardly through the enclosure, and an inlet opening 15 provides for theentry of ambient air. An air filter 16 extends over the opening 15 tofilter all air entering the housing, being removably mounted on theenclosure by the bolts 17, which also serve to support the metal filtercover plate 18, the latter being disposed in outward spaced parallelrelationship with the filter and the front wall of the enclosure.

A blower module 12, also shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, is disposed in thelower portion of the housing 10, with its inlet opening 19 facing andadjacent to the air filter 16, and its outlet opening 20 directedupwardly through a portion of the top of the module and into theenclosure. An electric motor 21 is mounted on the vertical wall of themodule opposite the inlet opening 15 of the enclosure, and drives thefan 22 to move air from the outside through the filter and thencelongitudinally upward through the enclosure, as indicated by thedirectional arrows in the drawing.

To facilitate installation and removal of the blower module 12, itsbottom portion 23 is formed of an insulating material; e.g. fiber glass,and the leads 50 to the motor are connected to the transversely spacedconducting rails 24 and 25, the latter normally resting on and beingthereby electrically connected respectively to the insulated stationaryconducting supporting rails 26 and 27 of the enclosure. The latter arein turn provided with connections to the attachment cord 28, to enableenergizing the apparatus. In accordance with common practice, oneconductor of the attachment cord operates at ground potential, alongwith the engaged rails 24 and 26, and the metal Walls of the enclosure.

The construction just described enables the blower module to be removedfrom the enclosure by simply opening the door 11 and lifting the moduleout.

For best results in connection with certain of the available airtreatment processes possible, provision is made to vary the speed of theblower motor 21. This is accomplished by the connection of the motor toone of the several taps of the multi-tap series choke coil 29 by meansof the rotary switch 30, as indicated in FIG. 6. As shown in FIG. 3, theswitch 30 is accessible at the lower front panel of the enclosure.

Within the enclosure 10 are disposed several facilities for treating thefiltered air as it moves upward from the blower module 12: 1) by addingselected vapor phase additives for insecticidal, germicidal or deodoranteffects; (2) by the addition of ozone produced by absorption ofultraviolet radiant energy of a wavelength at the mercury line of 1849angstroms; and (3) by the germicidal ultra-violet radiation of thewavelength at the mercury line of 2537 angstroms.

Controls for these facilities are mounted on the front panel 43 of theenclosure, enabling the individual use and rate of application of anyone facility, or the concurrent use of any desired combination oftreatments, at individually variable rates of application. FIG. 6 is thecontrol wiring diagram.

For air treatment by vaporized additives, the additive 31 to bevaporized for addition to the auxiliary air column, and which may beeither a solid or a liquid, is placed in the sealed container 32, thelatter being conveniently formed of a transparent plastic material andresting on the shelf 40. A tubular additive inlet air duct 33 extendsupwardly through the top of the container from an elevation above thesurface of the additive, and thence laterally and downwardly to anelevation near and in the path of movement of air from the blower outlet opening 20. In somewhat similar fashion, the tubular additive outletair duct extends upwardly through the top of the container 32 from anelevation above the surface of the additive, its upper end terminalportion 35 resting on the upper surface of the shelf 37 and having inthe terminal portion a plurality of upwardly directed perforations 36. Athrottle valve, indicated symbolically at the numeral 38, enablesadjustment in the volume of additively treated air discharged from theoutlet duct.

For the destruction of viable particulates passing through the filter'16 and the blower module 12, the tubular ultraviolet germicidal lamp 42is supported from the inner side of the front wall of the housing,extending outwardly therefrom and coextensively with the main path overwhich air is directed as it is blown upwardly from the blower module 12.The wavelength of the radiant energy from the germicidal lamp ispreferably about 2500 angstroms, to provide maximum germicidaleffectiveness and minimum production of ozone from this source.

For air treatment by the conversion of atmospheric oxygen to ozonizedoxygen, a group of bulb-type ultraviolet ozonizing lamp sources 39,radiating energy at wavelengths somewhat less than about 1800 angstroms,are mounted below the shelf member 37, and in position to ozonize aportion of the oxygen of the sterilized air moving upwardly through thehousing. The shelf 37 is spaced inwardly from the rear door 11, andlaterally from the sides of the enclosure 10, and after passing thelamps 39, the ozonized air moves along the lower surface of the shelf 37and thence through the upper plenum chamber 41 to the outwardly andupwardly directed louvers 13.

The underside of the shelf 37 is preferably formed from a polishedaluminum having a high reflectance, while its upper surface ispreferably coated with some low refiectance material. The shelf 37 isdisposed: to partition the upper portion of the housing to provide theplenum chamber 41; to prevent escape of ultraviolet radiation throughthe louvers 13; to preclude deposition of additive material on thelamps; if desired, to provide an electrically grounded metallic surfaceadjacent to the ozonizing lamps from which photo-electron emission mayoccur and, finally, to provide a turbulent mixing baflle for admixingthe optically treated air en route to the plenum chamber.

To preclude eye damage from radiation, the normally; open door-actuatedswitch prevents energlzmg any or the ultraviolet sources unless the dooris closed. The door being closed, the ozone producing lamps may beenergized by closing the switch 45, this action also energizing thepilot light 46. Similarly, the germicidal lamp 42 may be energized byclosing the switch 47, which also energizes the indicating light 48. Thequantity of additive introduced into the circulated air may becontrolled either by adjusting the speed of the blower or by adjustingthe position of the throttle valve 38 by moving the operating handle 49.

Procedures for treating room air with an insecticide, a deodorizingozone and germicidal radiation may be concurrently carried on. Or, ifdesired, any liquid or solid deodorant or germicidal material which canbe evaporated or sublimed by an impinging air current may be injected asan additive into the room air.

An advantageous sequence of air treatment from intake to outlet occurswith concurrent operation of the available treatment processes. All ofthe air to be treated is first filtered to preclude deposition offilterable air borne particulates on the lamps. For effectivesterilization, a relatively long path of travel for the main air columnis provided. For minimum degradation of the ozone content of the airduring its travel to the outlet, a

relatively short path is provided from the ozonizing lamps and theassociated photoelectronically emissive surface of the mixing baffle andshelf 37. The continuous isolation during treatment of the auxiliary aircomponent effectively avoids contamination of the lamps as well as theassociated reflective surfaces, and its mixture with the opticallytreated component at the room outlet assures the retention of thedesired qualities of each component as the air moves into the room.

I claim:

1. A room air treating apparatus comprising an enclosure having an airinlet and an air outlet, blower means effective to impart movement ofenvironmental air along a main path from said inlet to said outlet, anda source of ultraviolet radiation mounted inside the enclosure anddisposed to irradiate the air moving along said main path, furthercomprising an auxiliary means for injecting a vapor phase additive intothe irradiated air adjacent to the outlet end of said main path, saidauxiliary means comprising an auxiliary tubular air duct coextensivewith said main path and having an auxiliary inlet end portion and anauxiliary outlet end portion, means supporting the upstream end of saidauxiliary inlet end portion in said main path adjacent to said blowermeans to thereby receive a portion of the air moved thereby, meanssupporting the downstream end if said auxiliary outlet end portionadjacent to the outlet end of said main path, an additive containerinterposed in said auxiliary air duct and a vaporizable additivepartially filling said container, the downstream end of said auxiliaryinlet end portion and the upstream end of said auxiliary outlet endportion being disposed in communication with the unfilled space abovethe upper surface of said vaporizable additive.

2. The apparatus as claimed in claim 1, including a serially relatedthrottle valve in said auxiliary air duct.

3. The apparatus as defined in claim 1, wherein a removable cover isfitted on the additive container, and the respective downstream andupstream ends of the auxiliary inlet and outlet end portions aredirected downwardly through said cover and terminated at an elevationabove the surface of the contained additive.

4. A room air treating apparatus comprising an upstanding enclosurehaving an air inlet opening adjacent to its lower end and an air outletopening adjacent to its upper end, blower means effective to moveenvironmental air within said enclosure and along a path extending fromsaid inlet opening to said outlet opening, a source of germicidalradiation and a source of air-ozonizing ultraviolet radiation mountedinside the enclosure in position to irradiate the air in said path fromboth sources, said sources being spaced along said path to sequentiallyirradiate air moving therealong in the order the sources are named, aplanar transversely extending shelf member fixedly mounted on the Wallof said enclosure at an elevation between the air outlet opening and theradiation sources, said shelf member being formed of a material opaqueto ultraviolet radiation and providing a barrier to the movement ofradiant energy through said outlet opening, the area of said shelfmember being less than the cross sectional area of the enclosure andconstituting the floor of a plenum chamber positioned at the upper endof said enclosure, the underside of said shelf member having a highreflectance of ultraviolet radiant energy and being disposed toturbulently intermingle the germicidally radiated air with the ozonizedair by impingement on the underside of the shelf as the air is blowntherealong en route toward said outlet opening.

5. The apparatus according to claim 4, wherein an auxiliary air duct,open at its respective ends, is supported within said enclosure andextends in isolated relationship along the main path from its lower endnear said blower means to an upper terminal portion which extends intosaid plenum chamber and transversely along the upper surface of saidshelf member, and means responsive to the movement of auxiliary airupwardly through said auxiliary air duct for adding a vapor phaseadditive to said auxiliary air prior to the discharge of the admixedauxiliary air into said plenum chamber for blending with theconcurrently moving ultraviolet irradiated air from the main path.

6. In an environmental air sanitizer comprising an upstanding enclosureof rectangular cross section having an air inlet adjacent to its lowerend and an air outlet adjacent to its upper end, a source of ultravioletradiation mounted inside the enclosure and disposed to irradiate airmoving along said source from said inlet to said outlet, and blowermeans including an electric motor and a fan driven thereby forwithdrawing air from an associated room and imparting movement of thewithdrawn air from said inlet to said outlet, the improvement whichcomprises housing said motor and fan in a slidably removable rectangularmodule having an air inlet opening in one vertical side of said moduleand an air outlet opening in the top of said module, and common meansfor supporting said module in the lower end portion of said enclosureand connecting said motor to an associated attachment cord, said commonmeans including a pair of insulated, transversely spaced and inwardlydirected module rails of conducting material forming parts of andmovable with said module, and a pair of insulated and similarly spacedand directed enclosure rails of conducting material forming parts ofsaid enclosure upon which said module rests in registration therewith,and means connecting said enclosure rails to said attachment cord.

7. The method of treating atmospheric air moving along an enclosed mainpath which has an untreated segment at the upstream end of the path andan ultraviolet irradiated segment downstream therefrom comprising thesteps of removing an air fraction from the upstream end of the path,moving the removed air along an auxiliary path isolated from the mainpath, chemically treating the removed air during its passage along saidauxiliary path, and discharging the chemically treated air into thedownstream end of the main path. a

8. The method recited in claim 7, wherein the irradiate air is subjectedto ultraviolet radiant energy at the wavelength of 25 37 angstroms.

9. The method recited in claim 7, wherein the irradiated air is firstsubjected to ultraviolet radiant energy at the wavelength of 2537angstroms, and subsequently subjected to ultraviolet radiant energy atthe wavelength of 1849 angstroms.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,397,068 2/ 1950 Canney 21-74X2,523,373 9/1950 Jennings et a1. 21-74 2,553,711 5/1951 Jackson 21--102X2,638,644 5/1953 Rauhut 21--53X 2,754,554 7/1956 Mills 21-120 3,047,7187/1962 Fleming et a1. 2153X 3,071,828 1/1963 Cornell 2174 3,442,6025/1969 Diehl 2153 FOREIGN PATENTS 349,031 11/ 1960 Switzerland 21102MORRIS O. WOLK, Examiner B. S. RICHMAN, Assistant Examiner US. Cl. X.R.

2154R, 55, 74R, 74A, 10ZR; 279; 250-48

